


Objections

by takawbelle



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Lawyers, Litigation, Lovers To Enemies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:07:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25565614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takawbelle/pseuds/takawbelle
Summary: Katara is an idealistic lawyer struggling to survive in the ruthless world of litigation. All was fine until the reappearance of a former flame who turns out to be her co-counsel in a drug case.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 23
Collections: Zutara Week 2020





	Objections

**Author's Note:**

> Zutara Week 2020 Days 1 and 2 (Reunion and Counterpart)

Her practical heels slapped through the halls like ponderous gunshots. Even after years in the practice, she never failed to cringe at the head-turning sound. Her footsteps didn’t have the lithe staccato of Mai’s cigarette heels, or the steady, self-assured tread of Toph’s mannish brogues. 

She dismissed the thought as her daily quota of impostor syndrome and countered it by pushing the heavy courtroom doors a little more forcefully.

_I belong here. I scrapped and fought and by La, I deserve it._

A few heads turned. Some nodded at her while others never moved from perusing case files or briefing clients. 

She made her way to the counsels’ bench, evading the creaky swinging doors of the bar with the ease borne out of much humiliation. During her first appearance in Judge Pakku’s court, she snagged her skirt on a rusty nail from one of the doors. During her cross-examination in the same hearing, she made the mistake of leaning back on the swinging doors in an affectation of nonchalance. She pressed her eyes shut, willing her mind to stop replaying the resulting crash. It took her two month’s worth of ruthless cross-examinations to live down Judge Pakku’s smirk. 

“If it isn’t my favorite idealistic lawyer,” drawled a voice close to her ear. 

She blinked, her mouth puckered in a moue of annoyance. Her tone, however, was perfectly civil. “Good morning to you too, Fiscal.” 

The heavy smell of tobacco clinging to him like a second skin, he slid right next to her and began rifling through his own stack of files. A flash of white, even teeth clamped down on his signature toothpick. “You can always call me ‘Jet.’ You used to, remember?” 

Resisting the urge to slap her forehead with the heel of her hand - _that would be Sokka’s move_ \- she nodded neutrally. “Yes, I used to.”

Sensing he wouldn’t get anything personal out of her, he suddenly switched to a brisk, business-like tone. “So, Atty. Sato withdrew from the case. Crazy, huh?”

“He has a little girl to raise without the help of a wife. If his love for his daughter weighed more than his love for the game, I wouldn’t call it crazy,” she shrugged as her fingers nimbly flipped through her own case files. “Though speaking of crazy, it’s just unlike Atty. Sato to withdraw when pre-trial’s done but just before initial trial. If you ask me, I’d rather take over a case at its infancy.”

Jet tapped his chin thoughtfully. “If they asked you. Apparently your new co-counsel didn’t - or shouldn’t - have the same qualms.”

New co-counsel. She’d worked with Atty. Sato in a drug case, the same one he withdrew from. Their respective clients were both caught on the same streets within minutes of each other. Police claimed it was a successful drug deal, the defense counsels said otherwise. 

“You know who the new co-counsel is?”

“No idea, Kat. Maybe it’ll be Mai. Hoped to talk to her long enough to ask her on a date,” he grinned.

“No way she’ll give you a shot. You’re too… grungy for her,” she grimaced. “And she doesn’t take drug cases of Average Joe’s, anyway.”

He appeared a little deflated. “Well, a guy can dream.”

Whoever this new co-counsel was, she just hoped they’ll get along professionally. Before she could devote more time to wondering about her drug case, the interpreter strode to the front and intoned in a booming voice, “All rise.” There was a uniform shuffling of feet as everyone got up. 

Showtime.

“Court in now in session. The honorable Judge Pakku presiding. Silence is hereby enjoined.” The heavy bang of a gavel and she looked up to see Judge Pakku, her former law school professor, lean back on his swivel chair. He surveyed the courtroom with his usual air of faint displeasure. Years ago, that look was enough to set her on edge. After collecting a few battle scars of her own, she met his eyes with a level stare.

“Call the cases,” rasped Judge Pakku. 

Luckily or unluckily for her, the first on the docket was her own case. Either Pakku was in a good mood and Jet’s initial presentation would go smoothly, or a bug crawled into his coffee mug and he’ll spend every case imagining the counsels as bugs. And squashing them.

Katara tensed, prepared to stand. Her case was called and she and Jet entered their appearances with stoic faces. She had to hand it to Jet - when in representing the State, there was no trace of the cheeky flirt; he was all expressionless prosecutor bordering on persecutor. 

“Where is the new counsel for the accused Naoki?” Judge Pakku’s faint displeasure deepened into a full-blown scowl during the seconds of silence following his question. Katara and Jet stared unfocusedly at a point near the judge’s chest. To meet his stare now would invite his unasked sarcasm. To bow their heads too low would present a picture of subservience and no self-respecting lawyer, for the State or otherwise, could endure being branded as some judge’s toady.

Judge Pakku tapped his fingers on the desk, deliberately drawing out each distinct sound in the still courtroom. It reminded Katara of the water torture employed by the Dai Li of old. Whoever this new lawyer was, an appearance was badly needed _now_.

With a final sweeping glance at the courtroom, Judge Pakku pronounced for the stenographer: “Order. When this case was called for initial presentation of evidence for…”

He was already resetting the case. Katara groaned inwardly. As jam-packed as Pakku’s sala was, the next date she could wrangle for this case would probably fall on the Day of Black Sun or the birth of her first great-grandchild, whichever will come first. 

Suddenly the courtroom doors banged open and all heads turned. A man - a lawyer, judging by the suit and tie and case file trapped in his arms -made his way through the aisle and passed the bar. Judging by the faint ripping sound audible only to those nearby, the swinging doors claimed another victim. Katara cringed inwardly, both for the new counsel’s tardiness and his ripped slacks. 

However, all sympathy she had for him disappeared like flecks of water in the Si Wong Desert when she got a look, a _good_ look at him. 

“You Honor, please, Atty. Zuko Meiyo respectfully appearing for the accused Naoki.”

Judge Pakku fixed his chilly stare at the new counsel and smiled. Katara merely tuned out the scathing sermon and imagined her _co-counsel_ being squashed like a pitiful bug.

____________

As soon as they were given permission to leave, Zuko bounded out of the courtroom as if chased by all the wolfbats in hell, which was probably an apt description for the scenario he found himself in. He was about to turn the corner when an iron hand clamped on his shoulder and he found himself facing a grinning Jet.

“So the prodigal son returns to Ba Sing Se.” Underneath the smile was a steely glint. Zuko’s side throbbed with the phantom memory of Jet’s pocket knife grazing it.

“I’m no one’s son, Jet,” said Zuko calmly, but his fists tightened almost imperceptibly in anticipation of a brawl. They were supposed to be colleagues now, opponents in a case but brothers in the law outside of the courtroom. Yet, Zuko wondered just how much Jet changed.

In Zuko’s peripheral vision, he saw Katara standing a good distance from them. Jet followed his stare and without loosening his grin or his grip, turned and said, “Hey, Kat. I’d like you to meet-” 

Her eyes sharpened to fierce pinpricks. Glacier-like. “We’ve met.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was not the reunion I had in mind but the plot bunny wouldn’t leave me alone. This is a one-shot though I might flesh it out to a multi-chaptered story if the inspiration for the plot hits me. Until then, this is one Hanging Ending.


End file.
